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madame-fouquet · 2 years ago

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2022 Anime Retrospective

With the year having come and gone, and a whirlwind of, frankly incredible, anime with it, it's time to do what has become a tradition for me and present my annual end of the year anime round-up! Each year it feels like I talk about just how hard it was to narrow the field as if it is something unique to that year's batch of anime, but perhaps it's time to admit that every year has a ton of great stuff that make it difficult to pick just a few to represent the best of them.

That said there were still a couple factors that made this year uniquely difficult, mainly the threat of a sweep by one particular series. However I am nothing if not fair, so I imposed a rule that I wouldn't let any series occupy more than two spots. I WILL however be doing a special mini-shout-out at the end of each category to that one particular series. That out of the way I do want to also open with a quick shout-out to some entries that didn't quite make the cut. My Dress Up Darling was a positively incredible series with an equally incredible main couple who were impossible to not root for, Marin herself being an especially lovable goober who had me constantly “Squeee”-ing along with her. Chainsaw Man was also a GREAT late-year entry that I feel is gonna really get a chance to shine in later seasons/coeurs so I'm gonna let it wait til then for me to really gush. Eve from Birdie Wing, Marin from Dress Up Darling, Chainsaw Man's Power, and Do It Yourself's own Jobko-chan are all wonderful and delightful ladies, but couldn't quite measure up to the character who did come away with this year's accolade. I do still absolutely love all of them though. And One Piece Film Red's Backlight encapsulates both an absolute banger of a song as well as a potent and emotional moment in the movie, but there were reasons it couldn't be on the list for either of those categories. That will not, however, stop me from listening to it on repeat.

Best of the Year: Call of the Night

“Take me away midnight, Bloodshot red eyes, A lullaby for grown-ups.”* The unprecedented power of the temptation offered by a street lit, not by the sun, but by the harsh burning glow of neon signs and muted business windows. The freedom you find wrapping itself around you just as the gloomy shadows of murky alleys close in on either side. The endless possibilities of the deep, dark, and beautiful night.

Crazy how something like an anime can encapsulate such profound and abstract concepts, how it can make me long for those quiet and intimate walks to a 7-11 at midnight, the way it felt like the whole town was just for me and a single other person. But conveying those feelings of nostalgia for distant memories of the romantic and unknown is clearly EXACTLY what Call of the Night was setting out to do, and the fact that it was able to so perfectly do just that is exactly why it is my best show of the year.

Call of the Night is more than just a vehicle for exquisitely communicated vibes though. It's also the story of Ko-kun and Nazuna finding each other, and trying to find meaning in their lives through that connection. Of Ko trying to come to terms with who he is, and what connecting with other people actually means. Of Nazuna trying to shake off the deep malaise that has haunted the long nights of her unnaturally long life. It is a story of people finding themselves through each other and through the freedom offered only by the mystery of the night.

Along with the harsh feelings of entropy and malaise Call of the Night also understands how to perfectly communicate things like fear, intimacy, joy, and raw sex appeal. Every other series that makes an attempt at being erotic ends up feeling sophomoric and lazy next to the subtle, classy, and perfectly potent showings from Call of the Night.

I would love to keep going on about Call of the Night, and I will! But not here. This series threatened to sweep nearly every category this year and, though I denied it that privilege, I will give the show its due and note, as an honorable mention, each thing it would have contributed to those categories. If that isn't the ultimate endorsement of a single series, I don't know what is. “Flooded with don't-do's, Smeared with shouldn't know's. Under the screen of darkness coming to get us, You're always so capricious, The Call of the Night.”* *Yofukashi no Uta by Creepy Nuts

Runner-Up: Made in Abyss Golden City of the Scorching Sun

***This is one of the first times I feel like I need to tag one of my entries with a SPOILER warning. So if you haven't watched the latest MiA season and have plans to, maybe consider skipping over this entry. Just know that I highly recommend it!*** With all the romanticism out of the way it's time to get heavy. Made in Abyss can be a very divisive series, and for good reasons, but it qualifies as a “problematic fave” for me. I'm not here to get into the weeds about the series though, what I am here to do it talk about what a fantastic follow-up this second season is to the initial outing as well as the movie.

For me, Made in Abyss was always about three things: The unrelenting power of the human spirit, the awe-inspiring beauty of the bizarre and dangerous, and the strength to retain one's identity and principles in the face of overwhelming horror that dares you to lose your way. Golden City of the Scorching Sun follows up on all of these themes perfectly, willing to pursue just how far the human spirit can be pushed while still refusing to break.

The new characters are also extremely good fits for the continuation of those thematic explorations, with new-comer Faputa having an arc that ties wonderfully into Reg's own continued growth while still also focusing on the question posed by her own existence: Even if you are in the right to seek revenge and enact abhorrent acts in its name, is it still morally just to do so? (if you were to ask me the answer is: yes.)

The new villain of Wazukyan also does a fantastic job of following up on past antagonists by continuing to show how easy it is for raw confidence and unstoppable ambition, like that exhibited by spunky protagonist Riko, to spiral into self-serving cruelty and arrogance. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the Abyss is allegory enough for the awful afterlife that I think the original exhibition leader's intentions qualify as a guiding beacon into the dark. And while a lot of parallels can be draw between Wazukyan and series supervillain bad-dad Bondrewd, I think Wazukyan's approach and mindset are different enough from the “Father of the Year” that he stands well on his own. Overall this entry was exactly what it needed to be, different enough to stand apart from it predecessors, but still fully acting on that mission statement that we started the exhibition on. And it has me just that much more excited to continue down into the Abyss and see what beautiful horrors are waiting for our heroes when they finally reach the bottom.

Runner-Up-Up: Kaguya-sama Love is War -Ultra Romantic-

Any season that has Kaguya-sama means that every other show is competing for a best of slot with Kaguya-sama. Any year that has Kaguya-sama is a year where every other show is competing for a best of slot with Kaguya-sama. This show is like the new gold standard for both rom-coms and absurdist high school comedies, and the third season shows that it absolutely refuses to slow down when it comes to “pause the show and take a minute to finish laughing” comedy, as well as absolute gut-punching emotional peaks.

I lauded the second season for achieving the previously thought to be impossible task of making me actually care about and feel bad for Ishigami, a feat which this season follows up on by continuing to feature him as a... surprisingly good guy? Yeah it's wild. It also made me form an emotional connection with Ino, despite her rather off-putting personality. Honestly Kaguya-sama really is just “the show that makes you see the good in a bunch of stupid kids.” (Gosh they're all so dumb.)

What also helped this season, I think, was giving some more screen-time and substantial growth to the long-suffering ultimate wingman who is Hayasaka. Hayasaka has spent so much time in Kaguya's shadow, having to expend so much time and energy managing her mistress's emotions that, both personally and narratively, she's had ZERO time to experience growth and handle her own problems. But now it's her turn to shine in the spotlight and express all that pent up frustration in the most normal and natural way anyone could- with a rap-battle. She deserves everything they finally give her honestly, especially considering this season also saw her being forced to confront one of the most brutal ordeals any character in the series could ever suffer... being locked in a small room while Shirogane sings. Heaven have mercy.

The absurdity of it all and the stupidity of the characters is 100% why we're here. Well, that and the fluffy fuwa-fuwa doki-doki emotions we experience from watching Kaguya and Shirogane FINALLY make some of the most substantial progress in their relationship yet. The finale of the season is a “needs to be seen to be understood” sort of thing, and has me absolutely chomping at the bit for that cinematic follow-up.

Runner-Up-Up: Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story-

“Golf requires goofy pants and a fat ass.” -Happy Gilmore 1996

While many of the outfits in this series are quite goofy, and a number of the asses are definitely fat, I like to think that Birdie Wing has shown that golf needs just a little bit more than that. According to Birdie Wing, golf also requires Mafia connections, amnesia, a shady underground golf teacher, the hypnotizing powers of pussy-stank, a wlw bent, and Gundam references aplenty.

Seriously though, Birdie Wing has no right making me enjoy watching, and being engaged as heavily with the sport of golf as it did. I'm not a sports show girl, it takes a rare and special series to make me tune in for the scores and drama and, well... Birdie Wing is definitely both rare and SPECIAL. Anime is the only medium that could give us mob-backed underground life-or-death golfing and get me to type that sentence with a straight face.

If Birdie Wing was JUST empty spectacle it would still probably be a pretty good time. But it somehow manages to squeeze very real character work and emotional drama in between the physics-bending drives and mob violence. The incredibly sweet and genuine budding relationship and emotions between leads Eve and Aoi is the actual driving force behind the series, even if it's easy to occasionally lose track of it behind all the VR and mechanically randomized underground golf courses.

I find myself just kinda going in circles trying to talk about this show, unable to describe it any other way than wonderfully absurd and beautiful. Birdie Wing kicks in the door to the sports-anime-bar to a perfectly timed record scratch as the other series full of spunky, hopeful, and wide-eyed high schoolers stare in disbelief at the explosive assassination of a political leader the series features as a slight aside. It takes one look around the room and dares anyone to ask what ridiculous heights it's going to get up to next. And I am so ready to see what those heights are.

Runner-Up-Up: Sasaki and Miyano

Standing in stark contrast to that last entry is something rooted more deeply in reality and subtlety. Sasaki and Miyano is such a powerfully sugar sweet romance that I feel like even the most bitter among us can find themselves drawn into the budding feelings between the leads. Along with being an exceptional example of the classic fluffy romantic comedy, Sasaki and Miyano also proves you can have your pining, and actual advancement of the relationship too.

It's one thing to have characters in a series who are genre-savvy, aware of the tropes of the story they exist in and able to note when they're happening, but it's another thing I think to have a lead who is savvy of the genre he's in (in this case Boys Love) and also in complete denial of it happening. Miyano loves to love Boys Love, but dang is the boy is in such deep denial about what that means for his own romance. I think one of the strengths of our uke-adjacent lead is that, while he spends part of the series in denial about his sexual preferences, it never comes off as paradoxically homophobic or anything. Instead we just get a young guy who had never thought to consider that liking other dudes was an option for HIM specifically, and I feel like that is a pretty relatable feeling.

I'll admit that I was worried going into this series that it was going to be yet another single coeur MLM/WLW series that spent the entire time on setting up the central relationship without ever reaching the payoff, (a trend I've been seeing a bit more often than I'd like lately.) I was then incredibly pleasantly surprised when the series ends with an actual substantial step in the advancement of the central relationship. It sounds minor, but when it comes to romance, I'm not just here for pining and longing looks- I wanna see some actual payoff dammit!

Sasaki and Miyano was never the most lavish production, but it certainly did know how to spend it's budget smartly. Things never looked awkward, or off model, and even if they weren't an incredibly extravagant effect, the colored shapes that would float by during the particularly soft moments never failed to make me melt and feel the gentleness and emotions of the moments. And I think that's the best way I could describe this show's strengths. It always made me feel the softness, the tenderness, and the love infused into it, and that sounds like the most you could ask of a romantic series.

Honorable Mention: I'm Kodama Kawashiri

I love short form series. I still consider Working Buddies to be one of my favorite anime of the past decade. The format, it seems, is ironically often allotted more freedom than its full length brethren. The amount of creativity that has to be utilized to tell a story, move a character forward, or make a point in three to five minutes can be startling. But that this series just uses that time to be painfully relatable is possibly even more impressive.

For a series that is sixty-six percent opening by volume it is astounding how much they got me to care about the titular character of Kawashiri. Maybe it's because I too am constantly procrastinating on any given project I'm currently working on, or wish I could just eat fried foods and drink beer for every meal, or have also made attempts to game the sleep system that have all ended in abject failure. I'm not sure, but I do know I would die for this pitiful little kappa woman.

And maybe that's the magic of Kodama Kawashiri. She doesn't need to strive for something profound, or accomplish amazing feats, or dig into the deep levels of the human condition and examine what it truly means to be a person for us to love her and enjoy our time with her. She just needs to remind us that, it's okay to occasionally have a mini-mart dinner or linger in the bath knowing full well there are things we need to be actually accomplishing. That deadline can totally wait, and there's no way this will come back to bite us in any way. We're all human, we're all flawed. We should all take time to slow down and let ourselves be just a little slothful sometimes. You should be kinder to yourself. I should be kinder to myself. I'm Kodama Kawashiri. And You are too.

Best Character of the Year: Riko (Made in Abyss Golden City of the Scorching Sun)

It feels a little odd giving this award to a character who made her premiere in animated form several years ago but, while Riko in the first season and movie was fantastic, I find that this season was the one where her character really materialized and compelled me. As good as she was in that first coeur, she did unfortunately spend most of its incredible final act sidelined and unconscious, so it was difficult to fully appreciate her impact. Similarly the movie felt like more of Nanachi and Prushka's story than Riko's, again making her feel like a supporting character in the story she is technically the protagonist of.

One thing that really stood out to me as Riko progressed through this latest season was how easy it would be to take her optimism and positivity for granted. Riko has seen, done, and been involved with horrors both natural and man-made beyond comprehension, but she has been left in a situation where she isn't allowed time to deal with and internalize any of it. She is being forced, constantly, to push it down and forge ahead, because to lose to her traumas and emotions now means death. So to see her allowing herself to blanket that trauma in her genuine love and fascination for the Abyss can really come across as one of the most heroic things she's done, at least for herself. She knows that she will have to confront these things some day, but she also understands that now is just unfortunately not that time.

Riko's empathy, despite the depths of human cruelty she's had to face, is perhaps the most important thing she contributes to the tenacious trio that is her, Reg, and Nanachi, and it is on full display in this season. The way she frees Vueko without a thought, the way she can answer Wazukyan's final question with her characteristic sense of wonder, the fact that she was able to forgive Maa and by extension get ME to forgive Maa. She is constantly showing that, despite the growing and impossibly heavy burden on it, she still has a heart, and that might be the one thing keeping her from becoming like so many of the other people she has encountered on her journey, and the thing that defines and separates her from the other White Whistles.

Honorable Mention: As I mentioned before, Call of the Night ran the risk of sweeping this whole year. So my CotN character shout-out goes to Seri Kikiyou: The far too relatable ennui-afflicted vampire gyaru.

Best Moment of the Year: Rose's Arm (Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story-)

Were there more emotionally affecting and deeper reaching moments in anime this year? Oh, absolutely. Are there any real ramifications or far reaching consequences from this event? Not really. But when I tell you that not a single other moment this year got the kind of genuine audible reaction that came out of me when Rose's futuristic robot arm prosthetic exploded out from beneath her glove, I am being absolutely serious.

Birdie Wing had me thinking I was fully prepared for it, that I knew exactly what level it was operating on and that, while it may be able to impress me with the depths of excess and ridiculousness that it could reach, I didn't think it would have the ability to fully surprise me. And then, despite my acceptance of the mechanical modular underground golf course they were playing on, I was NOT actually ready for the reveal that Rose had a gosh-danged ROBOT ARM. And the way this information is presented to us, with it exploding off her body after making a drive? I just couldn't. I screamed. I cried. I died laughing. I said “No” repeatedly, I asked “Why?” just as often, and I had to pause and catch my breath. No one else is out here doing it like Birdie Wing, I still have trouble believing this moment actually happened on screen like that in a series about GOLF!

The fact that such a short moment could produce so many emotions and at such intensity means that I couldn't give this award to anything else. Please, if you haven't, watch Birdie Wing. This show is the completely fake real anime that anime deserves and I love its absurdity with all my heart.

Honorable Mention: I almost gave this award to Call of Night's first episode when Nazuna and Ko take flight at the end. The insert song kicking in, the ethereal lighted sky that is almost synonymous with the series, the lingering beginnings of a budding romance, absolutely incredible visual storytelling.

Best Theme Song of the Year: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Queendom (Ya Boy Kongming)

I was unsure about Ya Boy Kongming when the spring season first started up. Just reading the synopsis I didn't know if the series could actually execute such a unique concept. Before I could make a decision though, my partner rushed over to me with a video he'd found on social media and together we watched the OP for the series with all of its incredible imagery and energy as this monstrous ear worm of a song belted out alongside it. After watching that, there was no more need for waffling. I knew we were going to watch the show.

That alone should speak to the strength of the OP. The point of an opening number is to get you in the mood and headspace for the piece of media you're about to enjoy, but in this case it was the single most convincing advertisement that could have possibly been made for the series. The raw “getting hyped in the club” vibes of the song, the positively excellent energy of watching the cast dancing along or engaging in hilarious music video style shows of excess, it makes it impossible to not have a good time while it's playing. And I think Eiko herself would approve considering that all she wants to do is spread happiness to the world through music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNn9NxZH2Vo Honorable Mention: All three Creepy Nuts tracks from Call of the Night have not left my mind (or playlist) since the show ended. I'd be hard-pressed to pick only one of the three as a favorite, but considering their own Yofukashi no Uta was the inspiration for the series itself, it feels fair to give it to that one especially. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zArhnXbh3Yc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OndK9RknCYU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6WjVGEVbNc

Best Movie of the Year: One Piece Film Red

So here's a fun story: A buddy of mine hit me up asking if I'd be interested in going to see One Piece Film Red in theaters with him. He'd gotten a pair of tickets but his friend he was going to go with had to drop at the last minute. I told him I'd be happy to go, but I asked, since I'd only ever read maybe a couple dozen chapters of One Piece and picked up some other bits of info through cultural osmosis, if he'd be okay with me occasionally leaning over and asking who someone was or if I was supposed to know something from the series or not. He then confessed that he knew even LESS than that about One Piece and had primarily gotten the tickets because the buddy who had dropped was a huge fan.

I think that is able to speak more to the strength of the movie than anything else. If you at least know the basics of how the world of One Piece works and who the Strawhat Pirates are, you are going to be able to enjoy this movie I can assure you, because I absolutely did. And I didn't just enjoy it, I fell in love with it. More-so than anything else, this film has gotten me the closest to finally going back and tackling the insurmountable task that is “catching up on One Piece.”

I'm a fan of musicals, and especially love when an anime is a musical (Go watch Starmyu) but after Uta's bombastic performance of “New Genesis” I had just assumed it was a clever diegetic opening number. But when she started singing again during the lighthearted battle with the various pirates during “I'm Invincible” my attention was once more piqued. And when she unleashed the absolute banger that is “Backlight” during that heartbreaking confrontation, I knew this was something very special.

And perhaps, fittingly, Uta is that special something that made the movie so great. The combined performances of Kaori Nazuka (speaking) and Ado (singing) help bring to life a character who is so much more compelling and deep than I was prepared to give her credit for going in. This movie is just as much, if not more, her story than that of the Strawhat Pirates whose series it occupies. From what little One Piece I had engaged with I was already quite taken with Shanks, but his daughter has proven to be a character who I hold even more near and dear to my heart.

If you're a One Piece faithful, you've probably already seen this movie. If you're a One Piece casual who has been waffling on it, do yourself a favor and see it now. And if you're a One Piece Newbie or just someone who has heard a lot but never taken the leap, this is your ship coming in, and it's time you climbed aboard.

Worst of the Year: The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting

***Disclaimer: I only vote a series “worst of the year” that I have watched all or the majority of. I will not vote for something that I tried for one or two episodes and dropped due to not liking it, so this often ends up as more of a “least favorite” or “most disappointing” category. I also will NOT vote for something with an infamous reputation. I know by word of mouth of some truly ABYSMAL shows, but I didn't watch them, so it's not fair for me to give them that flack (No matter how well deserved).***

With the now usual disclaimer out of the way let's dig into the crimes committed by this series and the manner in which it has disgraced the family name. Don't misunderstand my thematic hyperbole, Yakuza Babysitter is by no means an abhorrent show, but it is a series that seems to have somehow misunderstood its own core concept and the potential contained within.

Lots of people, myself included, love the comical juxtaposition of something like members of organized crime syndicates and mundane heartwarming activities, just look at the explosive popularity of the Yakuza game series. However when you do something like this you need to nail down what the very specific tone or tones you're going to be working with are and present them fully and succinctly from the beginning. Which is not something YGtB ever really did? The beginning of the first episode implies that we're going to be primarily in for the cross-section of Toru's violent, unhinged personality and the sweet and innocent activity of caring for a young child. But we rarely ever see Toru enact that much violence, and when we do it's always for the sake of others, or in the name of righting wrongs. We never really actually SEE much that reinforces what we're constantly told, that Toru is an madman on the edge, only barely contained by the family head's strength of will.

And that's where the series mostly drops the ball. We're constantly being told things, but never shown the evidence of their truth. There's this mysterious and threatening individual who pops up at the end of several episodes to attempt to spread a foreboding cloud over the future, but the rest of the series never commits to this concept (at least not up til the eighth or ninth episode when I finally gave up.) Though frankly I wouldn't blame anyone for dropping during the absolutely awful time of a head-scratcher that was the fourth episode. Here's a writing tip: Just because you've cleared the three episode test, if you haven't fully nailed down your core vibes and concepts, or even introduced all the members of your primary cast, it might not be a good idea to air an episode that you admit UP FRONT is completely non-canon and is just wasting the viewers time.

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